Plastic is a major category, and common plastics include PE PC.PVC.ABS.POM.PMMA, and so on. The material properties are vastly different, ranging from soft sponges to organic glass, and there is also formaldehyde that can partially replace steel. Due to different material properties, there are significant differences in processing.
The most common problems during CNC plastic prototype processing are breakage, cracking, chipping, and scratching. At the end of the day, it's just that the blade speed is not right, and everything is in vain. We cannot blindly trust the information about this matter, because the quality of domestic materials is indeed uneven. So before actual processing, it is necessary to try it out! It is best to conduct trial production of materials from different batches! The things brought by a different supplier will become unrecognizable.
Another issue is the choice of knife. Don't expect metal processing knives to dry plastic directly. There is still a significant difference in the tools used for metal processing, plastic processing, and wood processing. If mixed, the knife will become tangled in a mess. For example, processing nylon material is not like processing metal, where a single cut causes debris to fly horizontally. But like sharpening a pencil, it wraps around the knife in circles. At first, it's just wrapping, but as the temperature increases, it will melt. At this point, if you stop cutting, you will find a lump stuck on the knife, and it will be difficult to remove it if you handle it slowly.
The solution is to slow down, lift the knife more, and add cooling. The cooling effect of the coolant is not better than the blowing effect of the air gun during cooling. Because the metal processing debris is small, the residue can be carried away with the coolant. But plastic is like nylon thread, it's impossible to wash away in clumps.
Another issue is that there are often circles of wavy patterns on the processed surface. It's difficult to do surface treatment in the later stage. Metal parts can be sanded with different sizes of sandpaper. After polishing the plastic a few times, the entire surface of the sandpaper becomes a layer of inexplicable paste. Golden elephant sandpaper is not suitable for dry polishing plastic. Some harder materials can be treated with woodworking sandpaper and a polishing machine.
CNC machining of plastic prototypes is not difficult, the key is to choose different cutting tools and processing methods based on the characteristics of different materials. CNC plastic prototypes can be processed individually or in small batches, with a machining accuracy of generally up to 0.05mm, which is closely related to factors such as machine tools, CNC systems, cutting tools, and cooling.
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